


An Easy Choice

by Goodluckdetective (scorpiontales)



Series: Dust to Dust [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 23:45:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5225747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpiontales/pseuds/Goodluckdetective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alistair is to state his claim for king. Warden Brosca knows what that means. </p><p>So does Zevran.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Easy Choice

Lira was silent the entire march to camp.

It wasn’t her usual silence, the silence that naturally followed her no matter where she went. No, this was a different kind of silence, a kind of silence that could only exist for Lira. She didn’t sign unless she had to. She didn’t attempt to engage any of them in conversation. Her face, often so very expressive, was flat and empty.

Zevran knew why. He knew what bottling away emotion was for. He’d excelled at it from years.

Lira was not keeping a blank face because she felt nothing. No, she was keeping it to hold back from screaming.

Alistair was to assert his claim for king, Zevran thought. A claim for king meant nobility. And nobility had no place for casteless dwarves, no matter how lovely.

The boy himself hadn’t realized it yet. It was clear by his grumbling that he’d only considered the surface of what the Earl’s plans installed. But their fearless leader? Given the slump of her shoulders, she’d clearly thought it all the way to the inevitable conclusion.

“Is something wrong,” Alistair asked her halfway back to camp, finally snapping out of his own thoughts to notice the change in her demeanor. Lira looked up at him and for a moment, Zevran could see the pain in that gaze, the pure fear that she would have to let this man go. And quicker than it appeared, it was gone.

“ _No_ ,” she signed. He gestures had less energy to them than usual. _“I am just thinking about what lies ahead. There is a lot to do.”_

Alistair reached to put his hand on Lira’s shoulder. Zevran didn’t miss the twitch that ran through the shorter Warden’s shoulders at the gesture. “Well, we have each other, right?”

There was a long pause before Lira nodded. Zevran ducked his head, unable to watch the blunder continue.

Morrigan was right. The boy was a fool.

* * *

Zevran managed to corner her late in the night.

She was awake, as usual. Nightmares, Zevran supposed, a common affliction for those of her background. It was the reason Zevran was awake at these hours as well; despite his attempts to pretend otherwise, dreams of the Crows did often keep him up at night. She was sitting in front of the fire, her hair down out of the usual braid she kept it in. When he sat down across from her, she didn’t move at all.

“Fearless Leader,” Zevran said. Lira’s gaze didn’t stray from the fire but she lifted her hands up to sign.

_“Zevran. Is there something you need?”_

“No, no no. I am content at the moment. In fact, I am here about something you might need.”

That caused her to look up at him. A small smirk appeared on her face, rather forced, but still there. _“Is that one of your new lines? Because it could use work.”_

“Sadly no, but I will keep that in mind.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I am here, dear Warden, because I believe that you could use a listening ear. Or well, I suppose a watchful eye in this case.”

She was still for a moment. She turned her gaze back to the fire. “ _So you noticed then?”_

“I am an assassin; part of the job is to notice. And to consider all the possible outcomes of a particular plan.” Lira frowned. “Including the one the Earl has proposed as of late. And what it means for you. Though, given how drab you have been of late, I’m quite certain you’ve figured it out too.”

She nodded and let out a long sigh. It sounded pained, like she’d been holding back a cry of agony for far too long. Zevran decided to press forward.

“I assume he hasn’t figured it out yet, huh?” Another nod. “Foolish.”

She turned back to look at him and shook her head. Despite looking away from the fire, there seemed to be a light in her eyes, fierce and bright. It reminded Zevran of the sparks that came off freshly worked steel. “ _He’s not a fool. I am.”_

“Oh really? May you indulge me on what foolish action you have committed recently? Please tell me it was explicit.”

Lira laughed, which for her was a breathy smile. If she had a voice, Zevran thought, it would likely sound bitter at the moment. She turned her gaze back to Zevran. _“I suppose you could say that. I am a fool for thinking I could have this.”_ She gestured to Alistair’s tent before signing again. “ _Have him.”_

Zevran opened his mouth to speak, but before he got the words up, Lira was signing again. She was moving at a rapid pace, her hands quicker than usual, and if Zevran didn’t have so much experience with the crows, he doubted he’d be able to keep up. _“I should have known. Bastard prince. Grey Warden. Surfacer.  It was all right there in front of me, every warning beacon possible. A multitude of reasons why even considering getting involved was a bad idea. And what did I do? I went for it anyway.”_

“Warden-”

She was standing up now, pacing back in forth in front of the fire as she signed. It was rare that he saw her this frustrated. _“What was I thinking? That his past would just lie there forever and we’d be happy?_ ” She spat at the ground. “ _Fool! I do not get to be happy. It’s been my brand since I was born.”_

“Perhaps things are not so dire,” Zevran said. He had not been expecting this, this self flagellation from a woman who slayed dragons and walked through cities with her chin held high. He’d never even imagined she could view herself differently than others saw her. “He is stating a claim for now, no? He can always retract it. As I remember, the man has no desire to be king.”

Lira stopped in her tracks. _“No, he does not._ ” Then after a moment the scowl returned on her face again. _“But that matters little when he is the only choice we have. It is him or Loghain’s linage._ ” Loghain’s sign had always been  the word “bastard” and while it usually made Zevran snicker, this time he felt little joy at seeing it. _“It’s an easy choice.”_

Zevran was silent a moment before he spoke. He looked at her, really looked at her, the Warden who saved his life. She wasn’t conventionally pretty by any means. She had far too many scars. But here, in the glow of the fire that licked at her face?

Zevran doubted she’d be one easy to let go.

“It is not an easy choice when you consider in terms of choosing you,” he whispered. Lira glanced at him for one moment, a sad smile on her face. Sadder than she should ever look.

“ _No_ ,” she signed, her movements slow once more. “ _It is easier_.” She looked at her tent. “ _Go back to sleep, Zevran._ ”

She stepped towards her tent, leaving the glow of the fire behind her.


End file.
